Swan Song of the Sand: Aria and Gaara
by immoral.passion
Summary: Gaara has a past unlike others, shunned as a monster and selfloving.Aria is haunted by the ghosts of those she killed and used to loneliness.This story is about two strangers who become friends and help each other find themselves.
1. Prologue

Swan Song Of The Sand: Aria And Gaara

Prologue:

Aria pulled down the shutters of the little glass shop she worked in and waved good bye to her boss. "Time to go home" she thought to herself, stuffing her hands into the pockets of her coat. Turning up her coat collar to guard against the swirling sand, she took a long look at the sparkling night sky framed by the skyline of the sand village. The large round moon gleamed with the light of a thousand stars, signifying the bright new start of the lunar cycle. Aria's eyes blurred with tears as memories of her haunted past drifted back to her mind. She blinked the tears away and turned away from the sky. Somehow, the memories she most wants to forget never seem to fade with time, no matter how many years have passed.

* * *

Gaara walked behind his siblings silently, moodily thinking about the disastrous battle with Kimimaro. He had gone to Konoha, thinking he could repay the debt that he owed Naruto but has instead almost gotten himself killed. It was by pure luck that Kimimaro's body had given out at that very moment or he would have suffered a fatal blow to the head. Moreover, he realized he was nowhere near understanding what Naruto had told him about protecting people precious to himself. He wasn't even sure if he would fight to protect his siblings, much less a complete stranger. Gaara was beginning to think that there would be no way he would understand the bonds between people. Like the bonds between Gai-sensei and Rock Lee, or those between Sasuke and Naruto. He didn't even feel a thing when he was faced with death. Maybe he just wasn't human after all. Maybe he was nothing like Naruto. He was just a cold-hearted monster built for destruction, devoid of emotion. just like everyone said and he would remain unloved for the rest of his life. 

"We're finally home!" Kankuro's voice penetrated his hazy thoughts and he looked up to see the familiar buildings of the sand village. The dome shaped huts, the baked sand smell and the dusty wind, all part of the village he called home.

Turning his head to the left, he noticed a hunched female figure walking toward them, heading in the opposite direction. He watched the girl, with her bowed head and sorrowful gait, walk listlessly toward the gate. There just seemed to be such an air of sadness around her, as if she knew the feeling of being treated like a monster. MONSTER. The word reverberated in Gaara's head.

As if reading his thoughts, the girls head jerked up, looking straight at Gaara, revealing a pair of the most intense eyes Gaara had ever seen.

* * *

MONSTER. Aria's thoughts were interrupted by the sudden ringing of the word MONSTER In her head. She was flooded with strong emotions of pain, something like the pain she always felt. She jerked her head up, to look into a pair of the loneliest eyes she had ever seen, staring straight into hers.

* * *

"Those eyes... they are just like mine". 


	2. Chapter1: Recognition

Swan Song of the Sand: Aria and Gaara

Chapter 1: Recognition

"FATHER!!!!!!!! NO!!!!!!!!!!"

Aria woke up with a start, with tears streaming down her face and her long black hair plastered against her forehead. She sat up on her thin tatami mat and wrapped her arms around her knees, her sobs wracking her body in spasms as the remnants of her nightmares swirled around her mind. After a few minutes of crying, Aria clenched her fists and forced herself to push the tears away. "No point crying now." she thought as she wiped the tears away with her sleeve and sighed quietly. Who was she trying to kid? Ever since she was six, she has never had a decent night's sleep, without being haunted by the memories of her past. As long as she did not feel safe in her surroundings, Aria knew she didn't have a chance at restful sleep. She stood up and rolled her mat, before hiding it behind a pile of rocks in the cave she called home. Too poor to afford lodging in the town area, Aria had resorted to settling down in a spacious cavernous area concealed by a small waterfall. The water was cold and refreshing and Aria enjoyed training by the waterfall at night. Although she was nowhere near a full fledged shinobi's standard, Aria knew the basics that her father had taught her. Her precious oto-san...

Pushing those memories out of her head, Aria picked up her training belt and wrapped it around her waist. It was filled with small wooden kunais that she had carved out herself from tree branches. Not having access to Sunagakure's ninja academy meant she had to make do with home-made weapons. That didn't matter to her; she had stronger weapons than kunais and shurikens.

As she stepped out of her cave into the training area, she thought of the sand shinobi that had caught her eye. She was curious about him but all she could remember about him were his queer eyes and red hair. But as she started her throwing practice, the memory of their meeting drifted further and further away from her mind, until all she thought about was becoming stronger and becoming a shinobi like her father.

Gaara hopped onto the rooftop of the Sunagakure temple and sat down at his usual corner with a glorious view of the moon. The moon used to bring back the worse kind of memories, of Yashamaru and of all the bloodshed that surrounded him. It almost made the demon in him stronger, by feeding it the anger he felt.

But now, the moon calmed him and gave him a little control over the demon Shukaku. All he had to do was keep thinking about what Naruto said about giving his life to protect the people he loved.

Tonight however, he didn't think about his uncle or his loneliness. He thought instead of the black haired girl who had looked so lonely and frightened. Perhaps she was the one who needed protection and she could be the one to teach him the meaning of Naruto's words. He would seek her out tomorrow and pray hard that she would not ook upon him like all the other villagers. For the first time in his life, Gaara began to feel a little hopeful about the future.

The soapy water sloshed around in the bucket that Aria was carrying and splashed onto her shoes. Aria pulled the damp rag from the inside of her apron pocket and rinsed it in the bucket of water. Even though the shop keeper had several assistants, the disliked task of cleaning the shop front and polishing the figurines on display had always fallen on Aria. Haruno, the owner had always claimed Aria had no talent in glass crafting, even though she knew it was because outsiders were despised in the village. Many people had been suspicious of her when she first came to the village to seek employment and they became even more so when she claimed to have no family and no home. She heard the whispers behind her back that she could have killed her own family, just like the prodigious son from the number one Konoha clan had done. Because of that, she had been extremely grateful that Haruno had given her a job, even though the pay was meager and the job tedious.

Aria set to work polishing the four majestic life-size kazekages that Haruno had created specially to attract people's attention. As she cleaned the fourth kazekage figurine, she thought about the state of the sand village. Ever since news that the fourth had died in an attack on leaf village, the country had been in turmoil, The council of elders were disorganized in their search for the new kazekage, the people were in limber without a leader and the ninja suffered from a chronic lack of missions. Haruno's business had suffered greatly and so he had created these displays hoping more people would buy a figurine out of loyalty to the village. But business had not increased very much at all and Aria had feared she would lose her job if this continued.

Aria was distracted from her task by loud shouts from the opposite street. She looked up to see parents snatching their playing children from the street and slamming their doors shut. Some of the remaining children whose parents were not around were shouting out in fear and running desperately away. Aria tensed, prepared for an enemy attack, but was surprised to see that the children had fled from the boy she met just last night. "Who is this guy? Why is he so feared?" Aria thought as she watched the boy walk slowly down the street. He did look slightly menacing with his shinobi attire and the sand gourd slung around his shoulders. But Aria noticed that he kept his face down, as if trying to avoid looking at the children and scaring them even further. She immediately felt pity for him, and was puzzled that these children would run from someone who was not even trying to harm them. It was then that she remembered the word that had been in her mind when she walked near him. Monster... Could it be that he was a real monster?

Before she could walk out to talk to him, Aria felt a hard blow on the back of her head. She spun around quickly to face Haruno who cried out in displeasure, "Are you stupid, little girl? You must have a death wish to stare at the monster that will kill anyone who meets his eye! Now stop wasting my time and get to work"

When Aria had turned back around to look at the streets, the monster of the sand was long gone.


	3. Chapter 2: A New Face

Swan Song of the Sand: Aria and Gaara

Chapter 2: A New Face

Nightfall was Gaara's favourite time of the day, as it was the only time that people left him alone. Ever since the incident in his youth, the Suna villagers rarely ventured out of their houses at night. It gave Gaara the feeling that the night belonged to him and that he was finally a part of the village. He smiled sadly to himself at the irony that he could only feel like he belonged when there was nobody around him. It was almost like he was destined to be alone all his life.

The search in the morning had not gone as well as he had hoped. Despite trawling the entire village in search of the black haired girl, Gaara had not had any luck in finding her. In fact he was now beginning to doubt she was even from the village. For all he knew, she could have been a messenger from another village or a traveling merchant. The search was made worse by the fact that the village children had run away at the mere mention of his name. Gaara had hoped that the next generation would not know of his true identity but that had turned out to be an empty dream. He should have known that the adults would have told their children about Gaara the monster, his name being passed down like some sort of Sunagakure urban myth.

Gaara's thoughts were suddenly diverted by a feeling that he was being watched. He stealthily checked out his surroundings and from the corner of his eye, he spotted movement from the streets below. He turned slightly to get a better view and to his surprise, found himself staring at the back of the black haired girl. The famous Suna winds whipping her thick lustrous hair around her head as she walked further and further away from him. For a moment, Gaara could do nothing but sit and stare at her retreating back and at the distance separating the two of them. How strange, he thought, that I would begin to care so much about someone I do not know.

* * *

When Aria pulled down the shutters of the glass shop, the usual view of the moon was obscured by someone perched on the Suna village temple. Aria was curious at this new sight, having never seen anyone sitting on the roof at night before. The person had the silhouette of a young boy, the sash around his shoulder flapping in the wind. When Aria looked closer, she noticed the head of flaming red hair on his head. Even though his back was facing her, Aria was certain that the person on the roof was the boy she had met, the monster of the sand.

She took a few steps nearer, tilting her head slightly to the side, her original task of locking up all but forgotten. The sight of him with his left arm resting on his left knee, his head tilted up to the night sky enraptured Aria. She was tempted to leap onto the rooftop with him and had taken a few more steps toward him when her cautious side took hold of her and pulled her back.

She quickly turned away and locked up the shop, before taking one long last look at the boy on the roof. Finally, she tore her gaze away from him and turned away, heading back to her boring little life.

After stepping out of the Sunagakure gates, Aria increased her speed and ran at almost full speed back to her safe haven. So as not to let her shinobi training go to waste, she would hone her speed on trips to and from home. Aria would zip past the sandy wasteland on the village border before leaping into nature's own obstacle course; the forest that she called her own. Besides leaping on tree branches, Aria cleared all the rocky areas and slippery slopes with relative ease, all the while maintaining her breakneck speed. Besides training her stamina and honing her speed, traveling in the forest at high speed also served to throw off any pursuers. Aria knew that few shinobi could match her speed and traveling in the more treacherous areas of the forest meant that pursuers had a harder time catching up with her or capturing her scent.

Instead of going straight into the waterfall area that she called home, she went around the area to check on the traps that she had laid in the parameter. Noticing that none of the traps had sprung, and that the area was clear, Aria released the seal jutsu that kept her cavern home hidden. Once inside her home, Aria resealed the area and laid out her futon, preparing for another sleepless night.

* * *

Gaara knelt by the rocky banks of the river running through the border forest and examined the trail of sand that the girl had left behind. When he had realized that she had been watching him, he decided to follow her. But he didn't have his sand gourd with him on the temple roof and was not prepared for a long journey. Moreover, there was no way of knowing if the girl was friend or foe. Instead of just following her, he manipulated a small amount of sand from the village ground and moved it into her coat pocket; not so much that she would notice the extra weight. The sand was modified in a way that it would slip out of the pocket as she moved, leaving a trail for Gaara to follow, much like bread crumbs.

The thing that surprised Gaara was the way the sand had scattered. For the trail to be so sparse and the sand to be so widely scattered would have meant she had moved at an insane speed. Even the jounins in the village would have a hard time catching up to her, much less a slower mover like Gaara. Gaara was impressed by her speed but it also made him a little wary. Why would such a talented shinobi suddenly show up in the village? Gaara thought of the numerous assassins that his father had hired to kill him and the possibility that she could be one of them immediately registered itself in his head. Gaara had used to enjoy the challenge and the bloodshed, but now that his mindset was beginning to change, he was not sure if he would truly enjoy killing again. Moreover, from his observations, this new shinobi would prove to be a force to be reckoned with, since his weakness had always been speed.

Standing up, Gaara decided that he would give her the benefit of the doubt while remaining on his guard. With that, he took off along the river bank, following the trail of sand.

* * *

ria moved with the grace of a dancer; her arm movements were fluid and strong, while her leg movements were precise and forceful. Her father used to end off training sessions with similar taijutsu exercises, stressing to her the importance of fluid body movements. She remembered him telling her that the key to good chakra control was the proper control of her body and she had always looked forward to the exercises. She loved to watch her parents train like that; the pair had always looked so stately and graceful, just like a pair of swans. Reminiscing about the past made Aria lose her focus and her lower lip began to tremble. Determined not to let her father down by stopping halfway, she pushed the thoughts out of her head and carried on.

As usual, Aria could not sleep and had been doing chakra training the whole night. By the time she had finished her taijutsu exercises, she was drenched in sweat and was short of breath. She sat on the rocks by the waterfall and waited for the last of the night breezes to die down and for dusty pink skies to appear, signaling the start of the new dawn. She would have loved to sit and wait for the sun to rise, but if she continued sitting there, she would be late for work. So she quickly threw off her white training robes and dove into the pool of water. The water was cool on her skin, just the way she liked it. She breathed in deeply, letting the fresh water refresh her body after a long night of training. It was at times like this that she let her guard down, believing that no one would disturb her at such a private moment like this,

So it was with great astonishment and embarrassment, that when she turned around to get her towel, she found herself staring at none other than the boy whom she had been so curious about while she stood there stark naked. Without even thinking, she screamed and leapt back in the water.

* * *

Gaara had not expected it to be so difficult to locate the girl. Firstly the clearing where the sand had led to had been rigged with many traps and Gaara had spent a considerable amount of time disarming them. Even though the traps were hand-made and crude, the design was ingenious and would have done a good deal of damage had he ventured in unknowingly. Gaara had decided to approach the clearing when day broke so as to avoid springing any other unseen traps.

Finally, when day had broken, Gaara had ventured into the area and found the girl swimming in the water. Gaara walked over to the girl, thinking it was better to introduce himself and make his presence known than sneak around and spy on the girl. And so, he had stood there by the water, facing her back, thinking of what he should say. That was when she got out of the water, turned around and faced Gaara in all her unclothed glory. The girl panicked, wrapping her arms around herself and screaming, before jumping back into the water. Gaara stared at her and said lamely, "Sorry. My name is Gaara"


	4. Chapter 3: Chance of a Lifetime

Swan Song of the Sand: Aria and Gaara

Chapter 3: Chance Of A Lifetime

As Aria wrapped a towel around herself, she stole a glance at the red-haired boy standing less than a metre away. She was certain that he mentioned his name but had been too panicked to have registered what he said. He was staring at the ground, his face a practiced blank but his folded arms and defensive stance suggested some embarrassment. Well, she thought, there's nothing to be done by just staying in the pool. So she rested her palms on the hard rock edge and hoisted herself out of the water, dripping droplets of clear blue water from her hair. The boy looked up then and said, "Could I talk to you?" Aria smiled to herself and gestured to the hidden cavern, "sure, welcome to my humble abode. I have some questions for you too."

* * *

Gaara didn't know how he ought to react. Not only did he invade her privacy when she was bathing, he had also said some of the stupidest things in his whole life. But instead of rebuffing and rejecting him, she had invited him into her home. The expression in her eyes was not of anger and fear, but of intrigue and friendliness. Gaara's chest flooded with pain at the thought of how this was probably the first time someone looked at him like that. That feeling was quickly replaced by a strange warmth, similar to the feeling he last had when he was six. "Love is the medicine that heals all wounds." Yashamaru's words echoed dimly in Gaara's head. He clenched his teeth and fixed his gaze on the ground, fighting all the pent-up anger from his past, swallowing his rage. It's useless, Gaara thought, I'm never going to get anyone to love me for the monster that I am. She treats me nicely now but what will she do when she knows who I am? I might as well kill her now. But Naruto's voice crept into his head, reminding him of his mission to start afresh, to trust the girl and find a friend worth risking his life for. Feeling conflicted and confused, Gaara looked up and met the girl's watery violet eyes, emanating a genuine kindness and warmth that Gaara had never known. She smiled and all of Gaara's doubts dissolved away as he walked into the rocky cavern.

* * *

As the red-haired boy settled down on the futon, Aria watched him and thought of all the fragmented memories she had picked up from him. His thoughts had been too messy for Aria to understand them completely, but she picked up the words Naruto and Yashamaru. Moreover, she had felt the feelings of confusion and hate that reverberated so strongly from him. This boy must have a lot of demons to fight. "My name is Aria Modaiyo. I didn't quite catch yours." 

He looked up at her, but this time his face was the same practiced mask she had seen before, showing no hint of the emotions he felt just moments ago. "I am known as Sabaku no Gaara. Have you not heard of this name?"

Aria smiled, "Should I have?"

"Perhaps it is better that you have not then."

Aria wrapped her robe around herself before kneeling in front of Gaara. "I set more than 40 traps around this area. You must have some skill as a ninja to get past all of them completely unscathed. Moreover, my trail was pretty difficult to track but yet you found this place. I see you are carrying the forehead protector from Sunagakure. What would you, a full-fledged ninja from the sand, want from a plain shopgirl like me?"

"You are not a plain shopgirl. You know how to set ninja traps, scale impossible mountain cliffs at jounin-level speed and you can channel your chakra as well as I can. A plain shopgirl would not know such things. Neither would she know how to seal her sleeping place from others."

Aria stared at him in shock. For him to have realized that she had sealed the cavern when she had not made any handseals in front of him must mean he was stronger than she initially thought. "My training was... incomplete. All I wanted was to remain hidden." But Aria knew this was a lie the moment she said it. A ninja had finally found her! Someone who could match her skill, maybe surpass her! All she wanted was for Gaara to offer her a place to train. She didn't want to remain cooped up here, working for a glass shop all her life. Subconsciously, she hoped that Gaara would offer to teach her himself, so she could spend more time with this mysterious stranger. Oh god, please just grant me this wish. Haven't you taken enough from me?

Gaara's deep voice was somewhat hesitant but its meaning was clear enough to Aria. "Come to Sunagakure with me. You can receive more training there. That is, if you want to." His words were like a salve on her wounds, bringing her relief and happiness. She burst into a hearty laugh, possibly the first in 6 years and nodded her agreement. Finally, she could fulfil her dream and become as strong as her father.

* * *

Gaara was initially unsure if he had made the right decision. After all, he ought to have consulted Baki and his siblings before deciding to help train Aria, But seeing the twinkle in her eyes and hearing the joy in her laugh, made him feel that it was indeed the best thing to do. It almost brought a smile to his face. 


End file.
